Vice President Margarita Cedeño went public on 16 January 2019 to say that the country is not prepared for a second constitutional reform just to enable the re-election of President Danilo Medina. “We must wait for the decision of President Danilo Medina, anyway Danilo is a man who knows his role in history and is willing to respect the country’s institutions. I do not believe that the country is prepared for a second constitutional reform only for the issue of re-election. I do not believe that this is the message that we must send either,” said Cedeño, who is the wife of former President Leonel Fernandez.
President Danilo Medina has said that he will speak out in March 2019 on whether he will choose to seek re-election into the 2020 general elections. The 2015 Constitution passed under the first government of Danilo Medina bans him from running for a second re-election.
Cedeño, who is in her second term as Vice President under a Medina administration, and who herself has aspired to be the PLD presidential candidate, argued that “the generational change has not been prepared and the leaders must allow and facilitate that other leaderships can emerge and continue the good work that the previous ones have done”.
The statements of the Vice President follow remarks made by Administrative Minister of the Presidency Jose Ramon Peralta who stated that “danilismo” is the political force that prevails in the country. Peralta said that Medina controls 70% of the Central Committee of the ruling PLD party and even more in the Political Committee of the PLD, and thus calls the shots in politics.
A recent analysis published by PLD Central Committee member and Danilo Medina supporter, Gedeón Santos alerted that third consecutive periods are characterized by legitimacy crisis, political and social confrontations, as evidenced by the democratic history of the country. Santos is the Dominican Republic ambassador to the Organization of American States.
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El Caribe
17 January 2019
